El Nino flooding in Kenya. Photo: Screenshot

Israel was the first country to respond to a Kenyan governor’s plea, after his region was engulfed by floods caused by El Niño rains, a Kenyan newspaper reported on Monday.

Governor Okoth Obado said Israel donated to his Migori county in western Kenya some 100 bags of maize, 44 bags of beans, three bulls, 400 blankets, 192 gumboots, six water tanks, 200 mosquito nets and several cartons of cooking oil. Israel also donated a solar water heater to a local school, according to The Star. 

Obado said the donations would “go a long way in mitigating the effects of El Niño rains.”

Ambassador Yohel Vilan made the donations in the area on Monday in what he called an unofficial visit.

Last week, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that 800,000 Kenyans have been displaced since the El Niño rains began in October. Some communities have been devastated, and 100 people have died.

Israel and Kenya maintain robust political, economic and defense relations.

Watch Kenya’s Channel K 24 reportage on the flood here: